The invention relates to slings for long guns and attachments therefor.
It has been well-known to use slings attached to long guns, such as rifles, by means of forend and buttstock swivels for purposes of carrying the weapon while not in use, and for supporting the forend arm of a shooter, i.e., the arm that grasps the forend of the weapon while a shooter is in a firing position. Support of the forend arm is accomplished by positioning the upper portion thereof relative to the rifle stock with as little relative movement therebetween as feasibly possible, by connecting the sling under tension between the upper portion of the forend arm and the forend sling swivel. In this manner, bones of the forend arm are rigidly supported relative to the rifle, which reduces relative movement between the forend arm and rifle, that might be caused by muscle tremors. Reduction in the aforementioned relative movement increases marksmanship abilities, because the rifle is held steady; thus the bullet will travel along the sighted course desired by the shooter.
In the past, slings have been used to support the forend arm relative to the rifle stock. One known means of positioning the forend arm is a military loop sling, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,396,270. In a military loop sling, the forend arm is passed through a loop formed in the sling. The loop is tensioned relative to the upper position of the forend arm by means of a keeper, which takes excess play out of the loop and thereby rigidly locks the loop relative to the arm. On the average, it takes an experienced rifleman over 20 seconds to "sling up" and attain a firing position with a military loop sling. In a military or hunting situation, a shooter may not have 20 seconds available to commence firing. Also, long training sessions are required in order to learn proper slinging-up techniques. The military loop sling also has many moving parts requiring fitting and experimentation by a shooter, in order to obtain the optimal adjustments for his body configuration.
A military loop sling is also cumbersome and it is difficult to sling-up while in a prone position. As a consequence, many military shooters and hunters do not bother using a military-type loop sling except in very specialized applications such as competitive target shooting, sniping, or very long distance shooting. Shooters who do not use forend arm-supporting sling,s whether due to a lack of time or trailing experience, do not acquire the marksmanship benefits available therefrom.
Another type of supporting sling is a combination arm band and rifle sling, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,481,884, which has a rifle sling attached to the rifle and a separate arm band that is worn around the shooter's upper portion of his forend arm. The arm band must always be worn around the shooter's forend upper arm in order to use the sling assembly very quickly. In use, a metal projecting tab attached to the sling is engaged in a ring attached to the arm band, thereby effectuating rigid connection between the rifle sling and the forend upper arm. The combination arm band and rifle sling is not complete as a supporting unit unless both the band and sling are used simultaneously. Under battlefield or hunting conditions, the addition of the extra arm band component decreases reliability because it may be lost or broken. It is therefore desirable to have the minimum number of components having the simplest construction so as to increase reliability.